Franklin County, Columbus Rat Control Situation:
Thank you for all the extremely useful info on your site. I really appreciate your site and it is very informative. I was unable to find on your site a suggestion for my situation. I live in a day light basement. It's very nice, however there are rats between the upstairs floor of the house and my ceiling. My landlord spent 1600.00 with a company to seal off the house. Guess this did not work. I am starting to smell rat urine in the air. The upstairs reeks. Do you have a suggestion and is it harmful to be breathing this? I have an exterminator coming out to our home Monday. In the past couple of weeks we have been hearing and smelling offensive things. We found a few holes and then came the dropping under the stove and dishwasher and fridge. I am in full blown panic mode. Now I am worried about the cleanup of what's in the walls. I believe I read there is some type of "stuff" or bacteria that is safe and breaks down the feces? Is this true? Is there any way to ensure a sanitary home at this point?
Hi David, I live in a nice neighborhood [Columbus Ohio.] and solved my house rat problem [attic and crawl space just as you advise]. I have a motorhome stored by the side of my house and and had $1,700 worth of electrical wire damage 5 years ago. All damage was below the coach living quarters in wire runs which cross on top of fuel ,water, and sewage tanks. I have been able to isolate and close some of these spaces but not all. In addition the generator set box, room slide out space, and vented battery boxes do not lend themselves to isolation. I had one more instance of rat damage to wiring which I fixed myself 2 years ago. Anytime I see signs of rats I set multiple traps everywhere I can set them. I almost always catch one rat , never more. I have used have usd 8 trays of various repellants which I place at various previous rat sign locations. You list all of mine as useless and You are likely right. I could set traps permanently but they need to be checked , rebaited etc and at age 76 I'm getting damn tire of rolling around on a creeper under my motorhome with 1 1/2 ft of clearance to the house on the right side and 6" clearance to a fence on the left. Any suggestions ?
Columbus Rat Control Tip of The Week
Do Rats Consume Or Like Cheese?
Being an omnivorous animal, rats tend to feed on anything their claws can grab. This feeding habit with no restrictions allows them to feed on vegetables, fruits, meats, grains, and even dairy products. There's however a myth that rats prefer cheese to any other type of food. As a result of this, many people consider cheese as a rat's favorite and will prefer using them as baits whenever they want to trap rats.
This might seem like a very good idea, but the fact is there is nothing in particular that clearly states that rats prefer cheese to other food. Although they do eat it when they have access to it, that doesn't make it the food they like
To help you understand this better and know whether or not rats consume and like cheese we will be taking you through the diet of a rat. With this, we will be able to provide an answer to the question above.
Rats are voracious eaters; all they care about is to fill up their stomach with food. They only become choosy when there is an abundant source of food and several options to choose from. In situations like this, rats will prefer to eat other foods like meat, grains, and fruits instead of eating cheese.
Apart from all that has already been mentioned above, the nutritional value of cheese is low compared to what rats need daily. This simply means that if you keep a rat as a pet, offering it a meal plan that is mainly comprised of cheese is a bad idea.
